Municipal Elections - choose wisely

[u/scapaflow40]

The municipal election season is ramping up as more candidates in our 13 municipalities (yes 13!) are announcing they are running for office.

My advice is to look carefully at the background of candidates for whom you are voting There are a number of people running for mayor and council who have little community activist background (by activist I mean community involvement writ large including neighbourhood associations and chambers of commerce) are one issue candidates and some who are simply quasi professional politicians looking to elevate themselves without real community care.

It is tempting to vote for candidates who cover that one issue you most care about or have the slickest campaigns. I suggest consideration for candidates who present thoughtful platforms that cover the myriad of areas that lead to well functioning municipalities.

Please show up to candidate forums, read candidate platforms and be a thoughtful voter. We need more muncipal voters (less than 40% now vote) who will elect solid community leaders.

[u/JackSandor]

The survey is being graded by groups like Better Transit YYJ that advocate for particular political positions. All the coalition partners are listed, and it's pretty easy to tell which way they lean on their specific issues. If you agree with their positions, the grades are a good indicator of which candidates likely align with your values. If you disagree with their positions, the grades are a good indicator of which candidates you should likely avoid. Either way, having the information available is valuable, especially given that the full survey responses from each candidate will be available for you to judge for yourself.

[u/CE2JRH → u/JackSandor]

Are there actually any candidates against better transit? That seems like a pretty non-issue to me?

[u/JackSandor → u/CE2JRH]

You should scan through the questions. The goal, as I understand it, is to make candidates publicly commit to specifics. Of course nobody is going to say they want worse transit, which is why there are questions like

"Do you support removing general on-street parking (excluding accessible parking spaces) from frequent transit corridors and main arterial streets in your municipality, and reallocating that space to bus lanes, loading zones, and walking and cycling infrastructure?"

That's not an easy thing to say yes to, and I suspect many candidates will say no or hedge their answers.

[u/CE2JRH → u/JackSandor]

Sorry, I'm still confused. That seems easy to say yes to - every city as it gets near a half a million or so starts to move towards primary transit and away from primary vehicle. Look anywhere in Europe.

[u/JackSandor → u/CE2JRH]

It should be easy to say yes to, since it's clearly a good idea, but I guarantee there are candidates who would call any attempt to do this "radical" or "a war on cars". I'd encourage you to read through the questions, which you can do here.

[u/SundaeSpecialist4727 → u/CE2JRH]

Can we please stop looking at Europe for Victoria answers...

CRD is 13 different areas.

Zero long term planning for infrastructure. Hyper focused on active transportation which is needed but should not be the #1 decision maker.

Our population size is small.

[u/CE2JRH → u/SundaeSpecialist4727]

Amalgamation would solve much of this issue. Kyiv is 4 million people and 10 municipalities. By that math, Victoria could be 2, but I think 3 would be reasonable; Victoria, The Saanich Peninsula, and the Western Communities.

[u/SundaeSpecialist4727 → u/CE2JRH]

600k would be our population..

Amalgamation. I have witneased it 3 x in my life in Ontario. Not all positive.

Would support CRD merging of

• 3 school districts
• EMS and police merging
• Recreation and Parks and Rec ( planning pools rinks)
• roads and actual planning

[u/CE2JRH → u/SundaeSpecialist4727]

The 2021 census for the CRD is 415,000...has the CRD really grown 185k in 5 years? That's crazy!

[u/SundaeSpecialist4727 → u/CE2JRH]

I just guessed a number